On June 6, the VII Centre for Middle Eastern Studies of the Foundation for the Social Promotion of Culture International Seminar was celebrated. It was entitled: “The transition in the new Arab World: A challenge for East and West”.
The CEMOFPSC, on this occasion, gathered in Madrid experts on the Middle East to think about the transition of the Arab World after the revolts that took place in the so-called “Revolution 2.0”, where the ability to mobilise young people through the use of social networks as viral communication engines, and their capacity for non-violent resistance while demanding greater freedom and better living conditions, have had unquestionable relevance in the fall of autocratic regimes and their leaders.
Many were the questions that wanted to be discussed, including whether this transition is a step towards establishing a democratic framework in these countries, or if there is risk of resulting in new dictatorships through the return to totalitarian presidential regimes or oppressive Islamic regimes, and also to what extent can stagnation in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians affect this transition, and how the fundamental rights of the minorities are going to be safeguarded.
The day before, the president of the Foundation for the Social Promotion of Culture Pilar Lara hosted a welcome dinner for the experts invited where the H.E. Ambassador Pedro López Aguirrebengoa gave a speech, as a way of presenting the event that was going to take place the following day, which resulted in a brief open debate among the attendees. This speech is available on the CEMOFPSC website through the following link, http://www.cemofpsc.org/publicaciones/show/the-transition-in-the-new-arab-world-a-challenge-for-east-and-west-welcome-speech 
International personalities who, in many cases, witnessed these events, took part in the Seminar. Personalities such as: Hala Mustafa, Editor-in-chief of Democracy Review (Egypt), Mohamed A. Shehab El Din, political activist, consultant and lecturer in resolution, mediation and conflict negotiation (Egypt), Ibrahim Al-Marashi, Professor in History and Media Policy at IE University, Ph. D. in History from St. Anthonys College at Oxford University, MA in Arab Studies at Georgetown University (Iraq), Nadim Shehadi, member of the executive committee of CEMOFPSC, and associate fellow of Chatham House (United Kingdom), Darío Valcárcel, Chief of the magazine Política Exterior and delegate counsellor of Estudios de Política Exterior, S.A. Ana Menéndez, Minister Counsellor at the Spanish Embassy in Tunisia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and member of the executive board of CEMOFPSC and Isaac Martín-Barbero, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Spanish Embassy in Ankara, Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. They all participated in two round tables about: “Revolts, the media and the current situation of the transition” and “The role of Spain and European countries in the transition of the Arab World”.
The programme is available at http://cemofpsc.org/pages/index/seminarios .
After both round tables, a debate on the addressed issues took place.
Among the Media that followed the Seminar the following are included: La primera de TVE, RNE, Telemadrid, El País, Elpaís.com, El Mundo, la agencia Servimedia and EFE.
The information about the VII CEMOFPSC Seminar available is published on http://www.cemofpsc.org